In loading and unloading cargo packed in discrete and separated units from the hold of a ship, it is common practice to suspend a conveyor from a stationary boom mounted on a dock. The coneyor is extended into the hold of a ship so that workmen in the hold can load boxes, such as boxes of bananas, or other separate bundles or units of crgo, into pockets formed in the flexible material from which an endless conveyor system is constructed. An example of such a system is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,758,703.
The prior art systems involve certain problems, however. Manual loading of the boxes into the pockets formed in the flexible material frequency results in the boxes or other cargo loads being positioned askew in the pockets formed in the flexible material connected between cross bars in the endless conveyor system. This results in damage to the boxes or loads as they pass through close quarters along the conveyor route. In addition, manual loading of boxes directly into the pockets is performed with some difficulty and thus is quite time consuming. Since the receptacles formed in the flexible material of the conveyor system arrive at a loading position in the hold of the ship only at periodic intervals, the stevedores must wait for a receptacle to arrive in the appropriate position before loading a box of bananas or the like into it. Moreover, the necessary wait for a receptacle while holding a heavy box is quite fatiguing, which further reduces efficiency in discharging cargo.